Speeches to watch: Natalie Portman, Jonathan Safran Foer, and 'Flo'

EAB Daily Briefing's updated list

Should your school's commencement speaker be included on this list? Email us to submit your speaker for Daily Briefing consideration.

Entries marked with a * have been added since our most recent update. Organized by speaker's area of specialty:

Media

*Binghamton University: Stephanie Courtney, actress best known for playing "Flo" in commercials for Progressive Insurance. Fun fact: Magazine "Ad Age" recently named Courtney one of the top female icons of advertising, along with Rosie the Riveter and Bettie Crocker.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Admiral Michelle Howard, Vice Chief of Naval Operations. Commencement will also feature a guided discussion by the President with Howard, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Craig Mundie, and David M. Rubenstein.

Rochester Institute of Technology: Charles F. Bolden Jr., head of NASA and former astronaut.

Rice University: Retired Gen. Colin Powell, former Secretary of State and former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

San Jose State University: Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Representative (D-California) and House Minority Leader.

*Spelman College: Donna Brazile, vice chair of voter registration with the Democratic National Committee, political commentator, and author. Fun fact: Brazile became the first African American to direct a major presidential campaign when she managed Al Gore's campaign in 2000.

University of the District of Columbia: Jeh Johnson, U.S. Secretary for Homeland Security and former federal prosecutor.

University of Pennsylvania: Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, member of President Obama's cabinet, Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

Wharton Business School: Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary General. Fun fact: The University of Pennsylvania, where Wharton is located, scheduled Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations for its undergraduate commencement. Wharton Dean Geoffrey Garrett says "We knew we had to beat it when choosing our own speaker—so we figured, what better way than to get her boss?"

*University of California-Berkeley: Marc Benioff, chair and CEO of Salesforce, author, and philanthropist.

University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign: Risa J. Lavizzo-Mourey, President and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

University of Rochester: Deborah Bial, founder and president of The Posse Foundation.

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor: Ari Weinzweig and Paul Saginaw, Co-founders and CEOs of Zingerman's Community of Business.

University of Southern California: Mellody Hobson, president and chair of Ariel Investments.

Vanderbilt University: Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute.

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University: Eric Schmidt, executive chair and former CEO of Google. Fun fact: This is the second time that Schmidt has given the commencement address here—his father was the former chair of the economics department and Schmidt grew up next door to the former president.

Academia

California Institute of Technology: Genevieve Bell, anthropologist specializing in the intersection of culture and technology.

Columbia University: Lee Bollinger, President of Columbia University, by tradition.

Cornell University: David J. Skorton, President of Cornell University.

University of Oklahoma: Elizabeth Garrett, first female president of Cornell University.

University of Massachusetts, Amherst: Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, director of New York City's Hayden Planetarium, and television editor and host.

Ohio State University: Archie Griffin, football player, Heisman Trophy winner, and president and CEO of the OSU Alumni Association (alumnus, class of 1976).

University of New England: Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, granddaughter of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Northern New England, chair of Roosevelt Institute, and philanthropist.

University of New Hampshire: Ryan Pitts, former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant and ninth living recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor (alumnus class of 2013).

Log In To Your Account

Search

What can EAB do for you?

Simply put, we help today's education leaders solve their biggest problems. Not sure what that means for your institution? Visit the link below to get more information on how our research, technology, and services can help you with enrollment management, student success, growth and academic operations, and more.
Learn more